Using Peer Review Data to Manage Defects

Peer reviews, in particular software inspections, have become accepted within the software industry as a cost effective way of removing defects as early as possible in the software development cycle. The peer review process is also quite easy to measure. However, relatively few software project managers take an active interest in the data from the peer reviews taking place on their project and miss a golden opportunity to identify potential product defect issues and take corrective action. This article describes one way in which peer review data can be utilized for managing software defects in much the same way cost and schedule data are used to manage project budget and schedule commitments.